Every Cincinnati Reds Jersey in 2026, Ranked: Both City Connects Finish Last and the Road Grays Win

Cincinnati is the only club in baseball running two City Connects at once, and this ranking is the clearest verdict we have produced on that program. Both of them finish last. The three jerseys the Reds have barely touched, the pinstriped whites, the grays and the red alternate, all clear the two that got the design budget and the press release. For the oldest franchise in the sport, sitting on one of the best classic identities anyone owns, that ought to say something. Here is every Cincinnati Reds jersey and uniform for 2026, ranked worst to first and graded.

5. Red City Connect 2.0

Unveiled in April 2026 and the newest piece in the closet, this one goes head to toe red: red jersey, red pants, red cap, with narrow darker-red pinstripes layered over the base for texture. The chest carries a white wishbone "C," the sleeves are a deeper shade as a nod to the vest jerseys of two decades ago, and the sleeve patch pairs the "Cincy" wordmark with the Tyler Davidson Fountain from Fountain Square. It anchors Saturday home games.

It grades a D, and the red pants are the problem before anything else is. A monochrome uniform removes the visual break at the waist that makes a baseball player read as a baseball player, and head-to-toe red turns the whole roster into a set of traffic cones moving around a green field. The chest does not rescue it either. A plain white wishbone "C" floating on red is the least interesting way to use a mark this good, with none of the "REDS" tucked inside it that makes the home version work. There is a real idea buried here about Cincinnati owning red more completely than anyone, and monochrome is simply the wrong way to express it.

4. Black City Connect

The original Reds City Connect, introduced in 2023, did not get retired when the red set arrived. It changed jobs. The primarily black uniform carries "CINCY" across the chest, a modified diamond "C" on the cap and sleeve, an Ohio buckeye emblem, and the city's Latin motto "Juncta Juvant," and for 2026 it was reassigned to Friday nights.

It grades a C-, and it beats the red set almost entirely by keeping its pants a different colour from its jersey. That sounds like faint praise and it is, but it is also the whole difference: this uniform reads as a uniform. Beyond that it is the standard black City Connect problem, a team with one of the most recognisable colours in sport spending a night a week wearing the colour least associated with it. "CINCY" is a decent wordmark and the buckeye and the motto are nice local touches for anyone close enough to see them. Cincinnati is a red team. Two of its five jerseys are not red, and this is the better of them, which is not a high bar.

3. Red Alternate

The red alternate is the splash of colour in an otherwise traditional wardrobe: a solid red jersey with the cursive "Reds" script across the chest in white, worn with the all-red cap. No rigid day attached, most often at home and frequently on a Sunday.

It grades a B-, and it is the correct version of the idea the City Connect 2.0 fumbles. Same colour, same instinct, but worn as a jersey with normal pants underneath instead of as a full-body red suit, and with a cursive script that gives the chest some personality rather than a floating letter. It sits third rather than higher because a solid red top is still the least distinctive thing this franchise could put on. Cincinnati's real advantage is that wishbone "C" and the pinstripe heritage around it, and this jersey uses neither.

2. Home White Pinstripes

The home white is Cincinnati's signature: a white base laced with red pinstripes, the red wishbone "C" with "REDS" tucked inside it across the chest, numbers in a vintage early-1900s typeface, and the all-red cap with the white wishbone "C." It covers most home dates the two City Connects do not claim.

It grades a B. This is the jersey the other four are measured against, and everything good about the Reds identity is on it: the pinstripes, the wishbone "C" used properly with the wordmark nested inside it, and a number font that quietly reminds you this is the oldest franchise in professional baseball. It is nice rather than spectacular, and the reason is that it plays entirely safe. Nothing here is doing anything the 1990s version was not. That is a defensible choice for a club whose whole appeal is continuity, and it still finishes ahead of both jerseys that tried to be interesting.

1. Road Grays

On the road it is the standard gray set with "CINCINNATI" arched across the chest in red, names and numbers in the same vintage typeface, and the two-tone road cap: a red crown with a black bill.

It grades a B and takes the top spot on the strength of that cap. The black bill is the one piece of contrast anywhere in this wardrobe that feels deliberate rather than inherited, and it does an enormous amount of work, breaking up an all-red crown and giving the road look a sharpness the home set does not have. The arched "CINCINNATI" in red on gray is clean, the vintage number font carries over, and the whole thing is quietly the most polished uniform Cincinnati owns. It is a small margin over the pinstripes. It comes down to a hat.

Every Reds Jersey in 2026, at a Glance

For which look comes out on which day, the Reds uniform schedule maps the full 2026 rotation, and the Reds uniform calendar shows every jersey they have actually worn this season, game by game. If you want the same treatment for the rest of the division, we have ranked every Cubs jersey, every Cardinals jersey, every Brewers jersey, and every Pirates jersey, and the full 2026 City Connect ranking puts both Cincinnati kits against the rest of the league.

The Bottom Line on the Reds Jersey Rankings

Cincinnati is the only team in baseball wearing two City Connects, and both of them finish below every jersey the club did not redesign. That is the finding here, and it is not a close call: a D and a C- against three grades of B- or better.

The three that win are the three nobody touched. Pinstriped whites with the wishbone "C" used properly. Road grays with an arched city name and a genuinely smart two-tone cap. A red alternate that puts a script on a red shirt and stops. None of them is spectacular and all three are correct.

The two that lose both lose in the same way, by taking something Cincinnati already does better than anyone and overcomplicating it. The red set went monochrome, which turns a bold colour into a costume and strips the wishbone "C" of the wordmark that gives it life. The black set spends a night a week putting the most red-associated franchise in sport in a colour it has no claim to.

The oldest team in baseball has a great uniform. It has been wearing it the whole time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Reds jersey for 2026?

We rank the road grays No. 1 with a B, narrowly over the home white pinstripes at the same grade. The deciding factor is the two-tone road cap, a red crown with a black bill, which is the sharpest piece of contrast anywhere in the Cincinnati wardrobe.

How many uniforms do the Reds have in 2026?

Five: the home white pinstripes, the road grays, the red alternate, the new all-red City Connect 2.0, and the original black "CINCY" City Connect.

Why do the Reds have two City Connects?

Because they kept the first one. The black "CINCY" set introduced in 2023 was not retired when the all-red City Connect 2.0 arrived in April 2026. Instead it was reassigned to Friday home games while the red set took Saturdays, making Cincinnati the only club in baseball running two City Connect uniforms at the same time.

What is the new all-red Reds uniform?

City Connect 2.0, unveiled in April 2026. It is head-to-toe red, jersey, pants and cap, with darker red pinstripes for texture, a white wishbone "C" on the chest, deeper red sleeves nodding to the old vest jerseys, and a sleeve patch featuring the Tyler Davidson Fountain. It is worn on Saturday home games. We grade it a D, our lowest Cincinnati mark, largely because of the monochrome pants.

When do the Reds wear their black jerseys?

Friday home games. The black "CINCY" City Connect moved to the Friday-night slot for 2026 when the red City Connect took over Saturdays.